NBA veteran Cameron Payne was placed in handcuffs and thrown behind bars last month because he repeatedly refused to give officers his real name during a police investigation after he dialed 911 … at least, that’s what cops are saying.
According to a Scottsdale Police Department incident report, obtained by TMZ Sports, Payne called cops at around 2:44 AM on June 14 after getting into an argument with his girlfriend in Arizona.
But, cops say when officers arrived on the scene, he and his GF told them police services were no longer desired … as their quarrel was merely a verbal one, and they had calmed down since.
Officers wrote in the docs that all they needed to wrap up their investigation was Payne’s name and date of birth — but that’s when they say the Philadelphia 76ers guard stopped cooperating.
They say for minutes, Payne would not tell them who he was … insisting he was actually “Terry Johnson.” When they told him they believed he was lying and would need to arrest him if he continued to be dishonest, they say he told them, “That’s fine.”
Cops say in the docs they went back and forth with Payne for a while … telling him over and over again that if he just gave them his name, they’d be on their way — yet they claim Payne played coy the entire time.
At one point, police wrote Payne did provide them his real name … but told them seconds later, “No, that’s my fake name, can you please leave.”
“If you want to arrest me for giving you a fake name,” officers say he told them, “congratulations.”
Ultimately, cops arrested the 29-year-old and transported him to jail, where he was booked on two separate charges — one count of refusal to provide a truthful name and one count of false report to law enforcement.
Payne — who’s averaged 7.9 points, 2.1 rebounds and 3.3. assists per game in his NBA career — was released from custody a short time later. He has not yet publicly commented on the incident.
